DEA Let 1.8 Million Fentanyl Pills Reach New Mexico Streets to Build Bigger Cases
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 22
DEA Let 1.8 Million Fentanyl Pills Reach New Mexico Streets to Build Bigger Cases
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 22
Summary
AP found DEA agents and federal prosecutors in New Mexico monitored fentanyl shipments from 2023 to 2025 without seizing them, allowing hundreds of thousands of pills—and in one whistleblower account at least 1.8 million—to reach the street.
Agents said the tactic was used to gather intelligence and build larger trafficking cases, even though 2017 Justice Department fentanyl protocols said drugs should be seized as soon as practicable because public safety is paramount.
Records cited by AP include a June 2023 Albuquerque deal in which agents tracked 74,000 pills and another shipment hidden in a spare tire, while a former supervisor said "millions" of pills went unseized before a 2025 takedown seized more than 3 million.
DEA said the decisions were lawful, reasonable and consistent with guidance, while former U.S. Attorney Alex Uballez argued limited resources and targeting bigger organizations would save more lives.
The disclosures land as New Mexico remains a fentanyl epicenter: overdose deaths fell 14% nationwide last year but rose 21% in the state, and whistleblower David Howell says the agency cannot account for pills it let circulate.